Guillermo del Toro Gómez was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico on October 9, 1964.¹⁾

He grew up in a devout Catholic family.²⁾

Del Toro began playing with his father's Super 8 camera when he was approximately eight years old, producing short films with Planet of the Apes toys and other materials.³⁾

One short featured a “serial killer potato” with global ambitions; it slaughtered del Toro's mother and brothers before walking outdoors and getting smashed by a vehicle.⁴⁾

Del Toro attended Guadalajara's Centro de Investigación and Estudios Cinematográficos.⁵⁾

Along with renowned Mexican directors such as Emmanuel Lubezki and Alfonso Cuarón, he created and directed four episodes of the cult series La Hora Marcada.⁶⁾

Del Toro studied make-up and special effects with special-effects artist Dick Smith.⁷⁾

He worked as a special-effects makeup artist for ten years before starting his own firm, Necropia.⁸⁾

He also helped to establish the Guadalajara International Film Festival.⁹⁾

Later in his career, he established his own production company, the Tequila Gang.¹⁰⁾

The young del Toro, like many youngsters, was afraid by the prospect of terrible entities pursuing him. The filmmaker believes he struck a deal with the monsters in order for them to leave him alone, giving rise to the delightfully twisted creatures seen in Cronos, Hellboy, and Pan's Labyrinth.¹¹⁾

Miramax Films gave Guillermo a $30 million budget to shoot Mimic in 1997, when he was 33 years old.¹²⁾

In 1987, the filmmaker enrolled in Smith's make-up course in New York, and the two became fast friends.¹³⁾

Del Toro sees horror as fundamentally political, noting, “Much like fairy tales, horror has two aspects”. One is pro-institution, which is the most heinous form of fairy tale: Don't go wandering into the woods, and always follow your parents. The second kind of fairy tale is anarchic and anti-establishment“.¹⁴⁾

Peter Jackson hired del Toro in April 2008 to direct the live-action film adaptation of J. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien Del Toro departed the production on May 2010, due to extended delays caused by MGM's financial problems.¹⁵⁾